Polygon Co-founder Sandeep Nailwal has consolidated power at the Polygon Foundation, assuming the role of its inaugural Chief Executive Officer. Having previously operated via consensus-driven governance, the Foundation’s leadership has shifted markedly—now under the clear direction of Nailwal himself, signaling a full-throttle commitment towards execution, innovation, and renewed momentum.
“Now, it is time to again move fast, aggressively and with full conviction and focus,” Nailwal stated in the announcement, framing his ascension as a return to the startup energy that ignited Polygon’s rise.
A Strategic Reboot: From Exploration to Product Velocity
Polygon has weathered the competitive torrent of Ethereum layer-2 rollups over recent years. Once the dominant sidechain, Polygon PoS has witnessed a precipitous drop—from a peak TVL of $9.79 billion in June 2021 to roughly $1 billion today. Meanwhile, modern rivals such as Optimism and Arbitrum have captured developer and capital mindshare, with Polygon’s own zkEVM sitting 27th by TVL among layer‑2s.
Nailwal’s immediate agenda is to recenter Polygon on product-driven execution—launching Agglayer, transitioning Polygon PoS into a GigaGAS powerhouse, shuttering under-performing verticals, and invigorating ecosystem liquidity. It’s a bold pivot from a previous “study-and-explore” phase to what Polygon calls a “zero to one” mindset.
The Five‑Point Plan: Agglayer, GigaGAS, Decommissions, Breakouts, Liquidity
Agglayer Rollout by Year‑End
The modular interoperability protocol, Agglayer, moves into v0.3 and is earmarked to reach production readiness by December. It promises seamless liquidity and composability across both Polygon and compatible OP-stack chains—with chains like Katana retrofitted as Agglayer-native DeFi hubs. The consolidation of liquidity under POL tokens is central to Nailwal’s vision.
Polygon PoS Becomes GigaGAS Chain
Polygon PoS has processed over 514 billion in stablecoin flows and $3.7 billion in P2P volume in April alone , and hosts $271 million in RWAs—from BlackRock, Apollo, JPMorgan, and Hamilton Lane. With that backbone, PoS will undergo phased upgrades beginning July’s Bhilai upgrade (targeting 1,000 TPS, finality in ~5 seconds), then scale to 5K TPS by year‑end, and reach 100K TPS in 2026, aiming to position Polygon as the “Internet‑level” payments and asset layer.
Sunsetting Polygon zkEVM by 2026
Underperforming zkEVM Mainnet Beta will be deprecated, with exit sequencer availability ensured for 12 months post‑deprecation. Projects migrating to Polygon PoS will receive grant support. The decision reflects limitations—lack of EIP‑4844 support, low developer engagement, and rollup architecture constraints .
Empowering Founders via Agglayer Breakout
Polygon is spinning out founder-led projects under Agglayer’s umbrella. Privado ID (~5% token airdrop to POL stakers), Miden (~10%), Katana (~15%), and upcoming Zisk (built by Jordi Baylina) serve as visible incentives. These breakouts aim to reinforce ecosystem utility, tokenomics, and decentralized innovation.
Liquidity Reinforcement with FalconX
A new program in partnership with FalconX and other institutional market makers seeks to support POL liquidity across DEXes, CEXes, and OTC trading desks, while tightening communications around the “MATIC → POL evolution.”
Governance Overhaul: Founder-Led, Founder-Powered
The dramatic governance shift comes amid a wave of executive departures. Co-founders Mihailo Bjelic and Jordi Baylina have both exited or pivoted away—Bjelic resigning from the Foundation board on May 23, with Nailwal now the sole remaining co-founder at the helm.
Baylina, Polygon’s ZK lead, is departing to lead Zisk. Nailwal’s takeover—the first of its kind—marks a return to founder-led cohesion after a period of institutional layering that had muddied strategic clarity.
Competitive Repositioning in the Layer‑2 Landscape
For several years Polygon staved off competition as Ethereum’s urgent need for scaling took off. But Optimism and Arbitrum’s rollups—with tighter Ethereum alignment—chipped away at Polygon’s dominance. Redressing that is a core driver of Nailwal’s strategy. By focusing on high-throughput transaction optimization, inter-chain liquidity, and product velocity, this pivot aligns with historical peaks of Polygon adoption experienced in 2020-21.
Polygon’s path forward is reminiscent of a “phoenix rising”—experts often view this phase as a calculated transition from exploration to execution . Now, Nailwal’s roadmap centers on speed, clarity, and delivering tangible returns.
Ecosystem Outlook: Risks, Rewards, and Calendar Markers
The timeline ahead lays critical touchpoints: Agglayer v0.3 by December, Bhilai upgrade in July, 5K TPS by end‑2025, zkEVM deprecation in 2026. Each milestone carries substantial community and developer implications:
- Agglayer: Often viewed as a promising unifying infrastructure layer, its success or failure could make or break inter-chain composability.
- PoS GigaGAS Transition: Real-world asset capabilities and payments volume scale-ups hinge on network stability and validator performance.
- zkEVM Deprecation: While decommissioning may free resources, the risk is reputational and potential developer attrition if not handled smoothly.
- Breakout Projects: Early-stage spinouts (Privado, Miden, Katana, Zisk) need execution and adoption to validate the airdrop incentive structure.
- Liquidity Programs: FalconX’s involvement could enhance institutional-grade depth—vital as POL migration completes.
What they said: Market response has been cautiously optimistic. Bloomberg News described the takeover as a “sharpening of strategic focus”, while CoinDesk called it a “strategic shakeup” and highlighted the trade-offs surrounding zkEVM’s deprecation.
Analysts note that Polygon’s ability to reignite network effects depends on delivering real-world, high-throughput use cases. As Messari reported earlier this year, Polygon processed more DeFi transactions over the past 12 months than Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism—highlighting its core on‑chain strength.
Nailwal Envisions A Unified, Trustless Polygon
With the Foundation now under Nailwal’s definitive control, the narrative has shifted—from decentralization as a diffusion of power to decentralization as decentralized infrastructure. Nailwal argues that faster decision-making enables clearer alignment between products and economics.
“This strategic move marks a defining moment for the Polygon ecosystem—one rooted in clarity of vision, decisive leadership, and a commitment to long-term value creation,” the announcement states.
Polygon’s next chapter is now firmly in execution mode. Polygon enters a critical test phase with its near-term product upgrades and ambitious scaling targets. Sandeep Nailwal’s bold consolidation of power restores clarity—but raises the stakes. Each benchmark—Agglayer v0.3; Bhilai upgrade; POL staking rewards tied to real-world traction; zkEVM phase-down—will test whether Polygon is likely to reassert dominance in the increasingly crowded Web3 space.
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